Wellhead



J. E. ECKEL April 1, 1952 WELLHEAD Filed April 16, 1948 HTTOR/VEV,

Patented Apr. 1, 1952 WELLHEAD John E. Eckel, Houston, Tex., assignor toOil 7 Center Tool Company, Houston, Tex., a corporation of TexasApplication April 16, 1948, Serial No. 21,384

' 'This invention relates to a well head. i The. present application isa continuation-inpart of co-pending application Serial No. 660,208'filedby applicant, and Fritz Richard on April 6, 1946.. f

An object of the invention is to provide a novel SCIaims. (Cl.16614) Itype of sealing assembly between upper and lower tubular members of awell head.

It is a further object of'the present invention to provide in, a wellhead assembly embodying a casing head and a tubing head mounted thereonand secured'thereto, a novel type of seal between the upper end of thecasing, supportedby the casing head and the base of the tubing head,said 'sealingmeans'fbeing of such construction that thafseah'ring, orpacking, therein will becom pressed when the heads are drawn together'bythe securing means such as bolts connecting the flanges of the heads. IQ It is a further object of the .present invention to previdea noyeltype of sealing assembly which may 'be'installedfor removed, as a unitand which is designed to form a seal between the base of the tubing headand the upper end of a casing which is supported from the casing headand extended up into the tubing head.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide in aswellhead asealing assembly designed to form a seal between the upper end of .the"vie1l,,casing and the tubing head which is of such construction thatit'may be readily removed or'installed by means available at thelocation Where-the well head is in use. f

ther objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingspecification which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a well head shown partly in section andembodying the invention and,

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings the numeral I designates acasing head.

Supported on the casing head there is a tubing head 2.

The heads I and 2 are of tubular formation and their adjacent ends haveexternal registering flanges which may be secured together in anypreferred manner. As shown they are secured together by a series ofbolts 3 having clamp nuts screwed onto their respective ends to draw theheads together.

As illustrated in Figure 1 the casing head has an inside downwardlytapering seat 4 whereon the tubular casing hanger 5, which tapersdownwardly externally, is seated.

rests on the upper end of the hanger orother 2 v V The well casing 6, inthe present illustration is supported from said hanger. In the presentillustration the hanger 5 has external-countersunk seal rings 1 thereinto form seals with the seat 4.

, In this type of well head the base, or lower end, of the tubing headis internally counterbored and the upper end of the casing 6 extends upinto-the tubing head. I v

Within the counterbore of the tubing head there is a sealing assemblywhich comprises an upper annular junk ring 8, an intermediate-seal ring9, formed of rubber or other sealing material, and a lower annularcompression ring l0 which is flared outwardly and downwardly and casingsupporting means beneath.

This compression ring H] has an externalannular groove H'therearound andsecured to the tubing head 4 and extending radially inwardly there "is alocking ring [2 whose inner margin projects into said groove. This ringJ12 maybe secured to the tubing head by meansois'et screws, as l3, andsuitable openings M are 'provided in'the flared portion of-thecompression ring for the, insertionof 'a' screw driver to-insert orremove the screws 13 in assembling the seal- 'ing assembly.

' indicated, and will maintainthe sealing assembly in its properposition in the tubing head. As shown in the drawing, the thickness ofthe locking ring I2 is less than the width of the groove l I so thatafter the assembly is made, as illustrated in Figure 1, a limitedindependent upward movement of the compression ring with respect to thelocking ring may occur.

As hereinabove stated the lower end of the tubing head is internallycounterbored thus providing an internal downwardly facing shoulder [5 inthe tubing head against which the junk ring abuts to limit its uppermovement.

The upper end of the junk ring 8 is reduced externally in diameter andfits up within the tubing head above the shoulder I5 and its upper endis upwardly and outwardly flared forming a guide 16 for guiding thedrill bit when it is desired to lower the drill through the head.

In mounting the sealing assembly within the tubing head the junk ring 8and seal ring 9 are inserted within the counterbore; thereafter, thesectional locking ring I2 is placed within the groove l l of thecompression ring and these parts 3 are moved into place within thecounterbore. The screws 13 are then threaded into the tubing head withthis operation being carried out through the openings 14 in the flaredlower end of the compression ring. After the locking ring 12 is inposition. it is evident that the sealing assembly is held againstdownward displacement from the counterbore by means of said lockingring; however, because the thickness of the ring is less than the widthof the groove l I, the compression ring may undergo limited axialmovement with respect to the locking ring. Therefore, when the tubinghead is assembled on the easing head, the lower end of the compressionring engages the hanger and an upward compressive force is applied tothe sealing ring.

It is usually desirable to test the seals, before 7 the well is broughtin. Means providing for this test is illustrated in Figure 1 wherein thetubing chamber l8 to permit the escape of all air from the-ehaniber IQand the said plug should then be replaced and pressure applied to theliquid filling the chamber l8. This pressure line should be equippedwith a pressure gauge and if the upper or lower seals leak it will beindicated by the gauge. If after the testis made the auge does not.indicate leakage of the seals the well can then bebrought in.

' The drawings and description are illustrative merely while the broadprinciple of the invention, will be defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

Jain a tubular head having a recess in its lower portion and having. aWell casing extending upwardly into the bore of the head opposite saidrecess a packing assembly for sealing about acasing and adapted to belocated within the recess, said assembly comprising, a compression ringhaving an external groove, a seal ring ed of resilient material on saidcompression a locking ring extending radially inwardly into saidgroove'and having a thickness less than the width of the groove, meansfor securing said locking ring to the head, whereby the packing assemblyis retained against displacement from the lower end of the head, saidcompression ring being downwardly flared and being provided with anopening for access to said securing means.

2. In a tubular well head a packing assembly for sealing about a casingextended into the head, said assembly comprising, a compression ringhaving an external groove, a seal ringformed of resilient material onsaid compression ring, a locking ring secured to the head and extendingradially inwardly into said groovef a junk ring around the upper end ofthe casing and mounted on the seal ring and interlocked with the headagainst upward movement with said head, the upper end of the junk ringoverlying the upper end of the casing extending through the head andbeing outwardly flared to, form a. drill bit guide.

3. In a tubular Well head having a counterbored recess in its lower end,a packing assembly including a metallic ring interlocked withlthe upperportion of the recess, a sealing ring below the metallic ring andadapted to seal'witha 'c'as ing extending. into the lower portion of thehead, a compression ring within the recess below .the sealing ring andhaving -.an external groove int r d ate its upper and. low ends; a lo kn ring engaged 'within the external groove and adapted to be detachablyfastened to the'body'of 16 ahead 19 retain he c mp e sion r ng. 1631 f tn the locking rin to he body of t e head sealin rin and metallic. r ngin .po iQ within the recess in the head, the lower'portion f. the comprss on ring being fla ed outwar ly in overlying relationship to thelockingring with said flared portion having aceess openings thereinwhereby the fastenin m ans, for 'said'lq kins rings are accessible from'belowthe assembly.

' JOH ECK REFERENCES CITED 7 The following references are of recordinthe file of this patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS Penick et al. Nov; 30,1943

